Daniel 6:10. His windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
1. For the position of this chamber, see note on 2 Kings 4:10 (#333).
2. He did not look toward the sun, as the fire-worshipers did (see note on Ezekiel 8:16, #568) but toward Jerusalem, where the temple of Jehovah stood, and where the sacred Presence was in the Oracle. This seems to have been a custom among the Jews when they were away from the Holy City. See 1 Kings 8:44,48; 2 Chronicles 6:34; Psalm 5:7; 28:2; 138:2; Jonah 2:4. See also note on Matthew 4:23 (#636).
3. There was no legal prescription in the Jewish ritual of any hours for seasons of prayer. The hours of morning and evening sacrifice would naturally be suggested to the mind of a pious Jew as suitable times for prayer. To this might easily be added a time midway. This appears to have been the case with David, who says: “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psa. 55:17). The order in which these three seasons of prayer are named by the psalmist seems to indicate the origin of the custom as just suggested. In the text Daniel is said to have prayed “three times a day.” From Daniel 9:21, it appears that one of these seasons of prayer was at the time of evening sacrifice; the two others were probably the same as those mentioned by David. In later times the precise hour is more clearly indicated. Compare Acts 2:15; 10:9; 3:1.